Brussels Rural Development Briefings A series of meetings on ACP-EU development issues

1. Brussels Rural Development BriefingsA series of meetings on ACP-EU development issues • Briefing session n° 6: • New Drivers, New Players in ACP Rural Development • Brussels, 2nd July 2008 • 8h30 – 15h00 • http://brusselsbriefings.net Co2 offset through

2. New Drivers, New Players in ACP Rural Development • Introductory remarks • Dr Hansjörg Neun, Director of CTA • Prof. Lluis Riera, Director, DG Development, European Commission • Programme and Objectives of the Meeting, Ms Isolina Boto, CTA Co2 offset through

3. Context – New actors • There are new official bilateral donors, including some emerging market countries such as China, India and Brazil • Private actors like philanthropic foundations and vertical funds are playing an increasing role • Civil society organisations (from the North and the South) have multiplied

4. Context – Donor proliferation • Aid landscape is changing rapidly: the number of donor countries has tripled in twenty years • Today Development assistance is provided by more than 150 multilateral agencies, 33 bilateral agencies members of OECD/DAC, nearly 30 countries not represented in DAC, private foundations and a growing number of vertical international funds.

5. Context – New comers • The average number of donors per country rose from about 12 in the 1960s to about 33 in the 2001-2005 period. • Aid fragmentation and transaction costs • Competition amongst donors and recipients: quality of aid • Effectiveness and efficiency

6. Global responsibility and accountability in • development cooperation • As the aid architecture has become more complex • with more donors, new challenges have arisen: a • proliferation of aid channels, fragmentation of aid, • and a trend toward vertical programs and • earmarking of funds pose new challenges for • coherence and predictability in the delivery of aid.

7. The agricultural context • A growing number of players are investing in the agricultural and rural development sector • ODA allocations to Sub-Saharan Africa have increased significantly (although most of it as debt relief). • However, ODA to the agricultural sector decreased in real terms by nearly half between 1980 and 2005, despite the increase in total ODA commitments. The share of ODA to agriculture fell from about 17% in the early 1980s to a low of 3% in 2005.

8. ACP will face old and new challenges • ACP countries face the challenge to maintain historical links with the EU preferential trading agreements, with the attraction of a “look elsewhere”. • Can this increase in financial resources and the proliferation of donors be translated into lower costs and into more effective delivery systems? • Do ACP countries possess the capacity, information systems and co-ordination mechanisms to draw maximum benefits from these new donors?

9. Discussion points • What added values bring new players to the international aid system? Will they bring additional resources and greater international commitment to the development agenda (MDGs)? • What role for multilateral institutions that have long institutional experience and capacity?

10. Is future development aid in the hands of • philanthropic entrepreneurs? • It has been estimated that an annual budget of 150 • billion dollars will be sufficient to meet the MDGs • in 2015. Rather than call on the G8 countries • should one call upon the largest private fortunes in • the world in order to procure the necessary funds • to achieve these objectives?

11. Discussion points • Are there any international standards to which all donors adhere in terms of providing aid? • Should “new” donors comply with “old” rules or should these adapt to new situations? • Can multi-actor coalitions address specific issues more efficiently than individual donors, by pooling the right type of resources and expertise on a given problem?

12. Objectives of this Briefing • To raise awareness on existing and emerging key challenges in the new aid architecture impacting agriculture • To promote exchange of information and expertise sharing on knwowledge available • To feed in the debate on new donors, new drivers architecture by bringing various perspectives around the table

13. Programme • Panel 1: New actors in the global aid • System- opportunities and challenges • This panel will review how the landscape of • international development architecture and finance • have changed rapidly and how private actors such • as private and philanthropic foundations have • emerged as significant new investors in the • agricultural and rural sector in ACP countries.

14. Panel 2:New donors from the South, new • approaches? • How emerging and rapidly growing economies such • as China -beneficiaries of ODA- are bringing their • own experience to development cooperation • with African countries? What lessons from their own • policies and experience can be gained? How do • they fit within the new aid architecture?

15. Panel 3: Towards coordination, shared • responsibility and accountability • What are the trends in aid effectiveness, • harmonisation and alignment to ensure coherence, • a more rational division of labour and performance • amongst the donor community? What joint • standards and multi-actor coalitions can work for • effective aid.

16. Target group • 130 ACP-EU policy makers, representatives of EU • and ACP Member States, European Parliament, • civil society groups, researchers and development • practitioners, international organisations based in • Brussels.

17. Participants • Participants

18. Inputs/Outputs • AReader/Resources on Aid architecture • Summary of key issues on New Aid Architecture • Documents available online • Websites • Acronyms • Glossary • …To be complemented and further developed

19. Online resources • Read presentations, consult documents, • listen to interviews, view videos, make • comments before, during and after • the meetings at: • http://brusselsbriefings.net/ (English)‏ • http://bruxellesbriefings.net (French)‏